Early in the contest, the Cowboys pounded the rock out of tight formations. Coming into the game, Dallas had averaged only 2.98 YPC from tight formations, compared to 4.38 YPC from spread formations (and only a small part of that difference could be explained by game situations). We saw more of the same on Sunday. Jason Garrett dialed up tight runs on the Cowboys’ first four carries, and the offense gained seven total yards. Overall, 10 of the Cowboys’ 19 designed runs were from tight formations, and they averaged 1.33 YPC. The other nine runs from spread formations weren’t incredibly efficient, but the 3.8 YPC sure beats barely over one yard per rush.